“Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all people on earth will be blessed through you.”
(Gen. 12:1-3)
Five times in Genesis 12:1-3 the words “bless” and “blessing” occur. Pointedly, they stand in sharp contrast to the five instances of the word curse in the narrative describing the spread of sin (Gen. 3:14, 17; 4:11; 5:29; 9:25), and thus underscore the point that in the summons of Abram we have the divine response to the human disaster of Genesis 3–11.
- Salvation to the Ends of the Earth: A bibilcal theology of mission by Andreas Kostenberger & Peter T. O’Brien
Wow! I never knew that. That is awesome.
Nice, Brad! We were just talking about John the Baptist’s rebuke in Luke 3 of those who were laying claim to the status of Abraham’s children without practicing this ‘blessed to be a blessing’ idea in practical ways.
I think John’s words hit us in a similar way!
Sounds like a real theology of missions that motivates from the inside out and not by guilt.
This kind of word study, which Bruegemann does a lot of in his OT theology fascinates me. It almost says there is a real code to be deciphered in Scripture. Except the code is so evident it is hidden.
Good job pointing the way to good books on missions and church planting, Brad.
Georges, thanks for the note. I have really been enjoying this book. I checked it out from the library but I have enjoyed it so much that I had to order a copy of my very own. I plan to share much more from the book over the next few days.